The Witches of Dark Root: Daughters of Dark Root: Book One (The Daughters of Dark Root) (40 page)

“I’ve been reading Mother’s book,” I announced, lifting the spell book from my purse. “Especially the parts about getting rid of bad spirits.”

Merry gave me a curious look. “Good. We might need that.”

“I think we have everything.” Eve’s arms were full as she made her way outside.

We followed, flipping off lights and locking the door behind us. Eve beat me to the middle seat and whispered ‘nanny-nanny-boo-boo.’ I stepped on her toe.

“Good grief!” Paul shook his head. “I didn’t know witchery was such an expensive hobby.” He made jokes about witches having to take in laundry to support their candle habits. Eve and I laughed, trying to out-cackle each other.

“Think we can throw a curse on Frank while we’re at it?” Merry snickered, climbing into the back seat. I did a double take to make sure June Bug was still sleeping. She was. But Merry’s comment stuck with me. She had always been a ‘turn the cheek’ sort of person. Either exhaustion, the wine, or our run in with Michael had gotten to her. Maybe all three.

We arrived at Harvest Home, charging through the front door.

Paul carried a sleeping June Bug over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Aunt Dora was awake, watching Andy Griffith on late night TV. Her legs were propped on an ottoman and she had a wet towel over her forehead.

“Aunt Dora,” Merry stroked her arm. “Do you mind watching June Bug for a while? We have things to attend to.”

“I know what things ya have ta atten’ ta,” Aunt Dora said, removing the towel from her forehead. “Da circle is cracked and chippin’ away. Ya better make sure ya know what ya gettin’ inta.”

“Aunt Dora,” I said, taking a spot on the ottoman near her feet. “Please tell us what you know about the circle.”

Aunt Dora’s eyes turned to slits. She pulled her legs from the stool, pushing her feet into pink slippers. She raised herself to standing, reached for her cane, and drew an imaginary circle on the ground with its tip.
 

“Da circle has many meanings: unity, wholeness, eternity. It is wid’out beginnin’ an’ wid’out end.” She stopped, checking to see if we were paying attention. “But in dis case, da circle represents protection...”

Aunt Dora limped towards the window, looking out at the moon. The glass steamed over from her breath and she traced out another circle.
 

“Dark Root is a stronghold, one o’ da few left in da world today. An’ dat’s only because of yer mama.” She looked at me, her eyes birdlike. “An’ da reason it’s a stronghold is because of da spell we put o’er the town. A spell o’ protection. Ta keep da...”

“...Dark at bay,” I said, remembering the incantation of my dream.

“Yes! But it was also meant ta weaken da things dat are alrea’y in. An’ now dat da circles breakin’, things are gettin’ in dat aren’t s’posed to come in, and da things dat are alrea’y in, are gettin’ stronger.”

“Why is the circle breaking?” Merry asked.

“We ha’nt done da spell in a few years now. It needs a’ least se’ev to keep it goin’, but da more sayin’ it da stronger it gets.” She swallowed and tapped her cane three times on the floor. “A few ha’ died. A few more are losin’ der minds.” She shook her head sadly. “Ev’rything’s fallin’ apart...”

I wasn’t sure what she meant about stronghold, but it sounded too big for my wine fuzzy mind. “We are going to Sister House to take on one of those ‘things’ now.”

Aunt Dora didn’t look surprised. “Take yer totem,” she said, pointing the end of her cane towards my purse. “Da owl from yer mother’s shop will protect ya.”

“How did you know about the owl?” I asked.

She pointed a finger towards her forehead and gave me a wry smile. “I’m ol’. I know lots a things. I jus’ don’ make a fuss about dem.”

“Thanks,” I said, giving her a grateful hug. I knew very little about totems but I was game to try anything.

“Now, ladies,” Merry said, covering June Bug with an afghan. “I do believe we are set. Let’s do this.”

“After getting rid of Maggie’s loser ex-boyfriend, this will be a piece of cake,” Eve said, pulling a jacket off the rack and opening the door.

I opened my purse and peered at the spell book and glass owl inside.

“Yeah, cake,” I said, wishing I had more wine.

Maybe then I would believe my words.

Sister House, by light of day, appeared despondent, like the face of a beautiful woman whose time had passed. But at night, especially beneath the light of a yellow moon, its fading beauty changed to a visage that was almost sinister––a small mountain of a house, obscuring and devouring the forest behind it, a forest that threatened to take it back.

One day
, the trees seemed to say as they bobbed and dipped in the wind.
One day that land will be ours again. Until then, we wait.

“The witching hour will soon pass,” Merry said, as we piled out of the car, scrambling up the dark walkway. Her eagerness to go inside was unnerving.

“Should I go with you?” Paul asked, catching up to us. “I don’t like sending you girls in there alone. What if there are squatters?”

I smiled at his naïveté. “Squatters are the least of our worries.” His face took on a look of alarm. “...We’ll be fine,” I added. “Just don’t leave us.”
 

“Never,” he said, reaching for my hand, as Merry and Eve climbed the steps to the porch. “Call me if something happens. I’ll be right here.”

I noticed Eve’s silhouette turn in our direction and I released Paul’s hand.

Paul returned to his car and hollered, “If I don’t bring all three of you back, Aunt Dora will have my hide. I’m more afraid of her than of any ghost.”

“As you should be,” I called back playfully, then turned towards the door where Merry was jamming a key into the lock.

“He likes you,” Eve said quietly, folding her arms across her chest to shield herself from the wind.

“Yes,” I admitted. “Though I don’t know why.”

“You’ve got spirit,” she said. “I just have fake eyelashes and a boob job.” She gave me a weak smile before following Merry into the blackness inside.
 

Twenty-Two: You Can Do Magic

The house was cold, a down-in-your-bones cold, and I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to fight off the freeze. I found one of Mother’s old fur coats in the entry closet and put it on. It was itchy and musty, but it was warm.

“Where are the cats?” I asked. Aunt Dora had been coming by to feed them, but the house was uncannily quiet and I had no idea where they were caged.

“Probably hiding, afraid they will be turned into another coat,” Eve laughed, inspecting me.

“Aunt Dora let them loose in the basement,” Merry said.

Eve and I turned our attention to our older sister, watching as she sprinkled a white powder in the shape of a five-pointed star onto the floor. A pentagram. Next, she formed a powdery circle around it. “The star must be inside the circle but the two shapes must not touch,” she said.

I nodded, remembering from Mother’s book that this was the symbol for protection.

“Maggie,” Merry said, not looking up. “Can you sprinkle sea salt around the outside of the house? It will keep your ‘thing’ from escaping.”

I swallowed hard, peeking out the front window. Small black shapes twisted in the night.

“I’m on it,” Eve said, and I mouthed a grateful ‘thank you’ to her.

“What can I do?” I asked, watching Eve through the curtains. She had no awareness of the small creatures that slid into the shadows as she approached.

“Find more candles. The shop was out. Light as many as you can. Mostly whites, but the other colors are okay, too. Just no black ones.”

“Got it.”

Mother’s shop might be devoid of candles, but her house had dozens. I found them tucked into drawers and baskets, and scattered across shelves. Once they were lit, I put them in holders and teacups around the living room. I then took five white tapers and placed them in the spokes of the pentagram––something else I had learned from Mother’s book.

Finally, I placed the crystal owl in the center of the pentagram, though I wasn’t sure why. It just felt right. When I was done, I tapped Merry on the shoulder.

She inspected the room, smiling. “Just like old times,” she said, cocking her head to the side. “I kinda missed this.”

“No ritual Magick with Frank, I take it?” I reached inside my purse, pulling out Mother’s book and the sage stick. I passed the bundle of sticks to Merry, who nodded approvingly then lit it from a purple candle on the dining room table.

“No magic of any kind, I’m afraid. You know,” Merry said, fanning the smoke from the burning sage towards the kitchen. “I sometimes wonder what life would have been like, if we hadn’t all moved away. I mean, it wasn’t so bad here, was it?”

“Well...” I hesitated, not wanting to dredge up bad memories. “Ruth Anne left and we never talked about it. Some people might say that’s pretty bad.”

“Yes, but...”

“And Mom was going nuts. You know, the last year that Eve and I were here together, I can’t remember her saying more than a handful of words to either of us.” I recalled my mother, sitting in her rocking chair, staring vacantly out the window. “It was like she had given up on everything.”

“Oh, Mags, I had no idea.” Merry draped her free arm around my shoulder, squeezing me. “I shouldn’t have left you girls. I’m sorry.” She sniffed, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand. “...And I didn’t mean what I said about leaving because of you and Eve. That was my excuse. The real reason was...”

She paused, looking around the house we had grown up in.

“It’s okay,” I said, my own nose beginning to run from the bitter aroma of the sage. I was half-tempted to wipe it on Mother’s fur coat but found an old Kleenex in the pocket instead. “We all had to go.”

“And some good things came of it,” Merry said, brightening. “You got to see the country. I had June Bug. Eve got to live as a glamorous actress in New York.”

“Yeah, about that...”

“Yes?”

I stopped. Only a few hours earlier, I would have killed for the chance to tell her about Eve’s real life in New York. But things were different now.

“I didn’t travel around the country so much as the West Coast.”

Merry smiled. “It’s all good.”

“All done!” Eve returned through the front door, showing us an empty cellophane wrapper. “Now let’s get rid of Maggie’s monster.”